ریسک ها و مزایای برون سپاری فرآیند کسب و کار : مطالعه خدمات معامله در صنعت بانکداری آلمان

We developed a model of the adoption of business process outsourcing (BPO) based on risk–benefit analysis. The model was tested in the German banking industry in four areas of transaction processing. Our results showed that, in general, perceived BPO benefits have a substantially stronger impact on intention to increase the level of BPO than perceived risks. However, the experience that banks have with the BPO process, [whether already decided on BPO (Pro), still in the pre-decision phase (Neutral), or opted against BPO (Contra)], moderated the impact of factors affecting the perceived risks and benefits of BPO. Banks that opted for BPO were mostly driven by a desire to focus on their core business while considering financial risks. Banks in the neutral position had the most balanced view of risks and benefits, mainly financial and performance ones, and also focusing on the core business and increased business process performance. Those banks that decided against BPO mostly focused on benefits while the perceived risks were mostly formed by strategic and performance risks rather than financial ones. The results point out the path dependencies of the BPO decision.

Business process outsourcing (BPO) involves the delegation of an entire business process to a third party provider, including its supporting services. Business processes in which IT plays an important role have become prime candidates for BPO. One industry whose way of carrying out business processes has dramatically changed is the banking industry. Associated business processes like trade settlement or execution control are now conducted using IT systems. In virtually every BPO engagement, the service provider assumes responsibility for both the business process and the underlying IT services. Thus, the BPO client transmits a set of information input to the service provider who executes the process and passes processed data back to the client. However, in the German marketplace, studies of service providers [8] and market research firms [23] and [43] indicate that the BPO adoption rate is still unexpectedly low. This raises the question: What are the main factors that hinder as well as drive the intention to increase the level of BPO from the perspective of key decision makers in organizations? Most prior studies have emphasized the high growth potential of BPO. A study of 31 European banks reported in 2003 that the majority intended to increase their level of outsourcing, particularly of BPO [31]. Based on an in-depth case study about Lloyds London, Willcocks et al. [44] concluded that the market for back office transactions was large enough for new vendors to enter and that it would grow substantially. They further found a rising market for BPO when reanalyzing over 350 case studies on outsourcing. In spite of these promising BPO scenarios, however, there is still scant empirical research on the actual determinants of the BPO decision [40], except for one study that focused on whether business processes should be outsourced domestically or offshore [41].

We examined the role of risk and benefit perceptions of senior management as determinants of the decision to outsource business processes. Overall, our study showed that perceived risks and benefits were useful factors for predicting the intention to outsource business processes while perceived benefits outweighed perceived risks. Overall, German banks can be seen to favor business value over cost reductions due to BPO. The study has also shown that the outsourcing decision history plays an important role in evaluating future outsourcing arrangements. Banks that already opted for BPO had a strong focus on efficiency while mostly ignoring the impact of BPO on the effectiveness of business processes. By contrast, organizations that decided against BPO or that have not yet made a BPO decision were much more cognizant of business process quality and performance issues. Since banks are forced by German regulatory forces to stay responsible for the correct execution of the business processes, the mentality of BPO adopters to focus solely on efficiency and concentrating on core business processes may turn out negatively in the future